There is a video clip which was posted but subsequently removed from YouTube, and currently hosted in another website, about how a young man was purportedly beaten up by police interrogators right here in Malaysia.

When I first watched it, like most people, I reacted in anger, but a day later, when Bukit Aman denied that it involved the police, I took another careful look at the video clip. I am writing my analysis because I see something that is worth sharing.

While I do not summarily dismiss the authenticity of the video clip, I now have my reservations. Let me explain.

There is something really fishy about this video clip. Firstly, the people in the video clip spoke in local Malay dialect, but their uniform did not appear like they belonged to our own cops. At closer inspection, the traffic police wear pants which have a white stripe; none of the "police" in the video clip were wearing the traffic police pants.

Whether the video clip could be suggesting other enforcement groups, I doubt. The reason being someone in the video clip had clearly shouted, "Sini polis!"

Secondly, if such a video clip had already emerged and is already circulating across the country, the person who had recorded it should have already lodged a police report and escalated this disgusting act to the public and if the issue is being suppressed, there would be many politicians willing to jump in to expose the act of cruelty to another fellow citizen.

The government would have to bow to the pressure from the people seeking for another royal commission of inquiry. I would personally voice out my concerns over such abuses of authority in the way how the police conduct its interrogation, if this video clip is authentic.

In fact, I have been calling on the government to set up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) since the nude squat video clip emerged. The IPCMC is one of the main recommendations made by the royal commission of inquiry which has yet to be implemented.

If it was true that the former IGP had blocked the implementation of the IPCMC by threatening to allow crime to rise, then I would be one of many who feel strongly that he should have been sacked for holding the government to ransom. Nowhere in the world would any police chief be allowed to threaten the government of the day, and yet still helm the force even for another day.

I stand corrected if the former IGP disputes that he had ever made such a threat, but I remember another incident when the KL Traffic chief boycotted because of he was unhappy with some remarks made against the traffic police, and disciplinary actions should have been taken by the then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Such thing should never happen another time, and
disciplinary measure should be taken against the errant cop.

Thirdly, and what appears most intriguing to me is that the camera had apparently changed positions at least twice in order to zoom in on the "suspect", suggesting that someone visibly doing the recording and was sitting there behind the desk. At the end of the clip, there was a close-up of the suspect. How can anyone doing such recording zoom in to show how much the suspect has suffered from what was depicted as police brutality?

I think this tells me that someone out there is trying to play up some mischief and have this issue blown up out of proportion. We should not be hoodwinked by these mischievous persons. If ever this is a true recording, there is no reason for the person to remain anonymous.

In VK Lingam's case, the video clip was done by Loh Gwo Burne, and Loh was not afraid to stand up to testify that he was the one recording the conversation involving the lawyer. We respect people with such courage, not some invisible hands posting such video clips to deceive the Malaysian public.

Fourthly, if this incident happened in the police interrogation room, the suspect should come forward immediately to see justice being done especially at a time when everyone is hot about the interrogation of Teoh Beng Hock, a witness, by the MACC, which subsequently led to his death.

This is the time for revenge since the truth is out there! The suspect can now take his revenge on the people involved in the video. Strangely, why hasn't this "suspect" come forward?

After reviewing the video clip, I suspect that someone is out to do some mischief and to try to divert people's attention from the real issues by creating false alarms so that once the issue is blown up, some people will be made to look like fools to believe in such a video clip. Beware! We do not know the motives of the people behind this video clip; therefore, finger pointing is a little too premature at this stage.

The video clip now appears like it was being acted by a few people under the guise that it had happened in a police interrogation room.

But what is clear are my final two points:

The police cannot resist the setting up of the IPCMC since it was recommended by the royal commission of inquiry appointed by the Yang DiPertuan Agong and it is something that the public has been calling for since the nude squat issue. The IPCMC will help to check on the abuses that we know exist within the police force, which the police themselves would not
deny.

The final point is, as members of the public, we have the right to criticise the police for the excessive use of their authority during interrogation, but it has to be a right that is earned. If criticisms are wrongly on some assumptions, we should be willing to admit, and move on. To the police, I will call a spade a spade, but please do not even think of harassing me if I am being sincere about my criticisms.

To bring Malaysian politics to the next level, we have to have more people who will be courageous enough to think, analyse and speak with sense. ISA should never be used, when such critics like me, whether politicians or not, speak up for the good of the nation and its citizens.